Apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in winders

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in winders or rewinders comprises a plurality of winding core support means, a turn table on which said plurality of winding core support means are arranged with regular angle intervals, said turn table being intermittently movable for each of said regular angle intervals so that the winding cores supported by the respective support means may be successively placed at a winding position, a surface drive roller engageable with a winding core supported by winding core support means placed at said winding position in order to drive said winding core for rotation, means for urging each of said winding cores to said surface drive roller when it is placed at said winding position, a rotatable cut drum engageable with another winding core supported by another winding core support means which is placed at the rotary position immediately before said winding position, said cut drum having a cutting knife which is movable between the first position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is extended outside from the periphery of said cut drum and the second position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is retracted inside from the periphery of said cut drum, means for actuating said cutting knife between said two positions so that said cutting knife may take said first position at a predetermined rotary position of said cut drum immediately after rotary position at which said cut drum is engageable with said another winding cores, hook means for retaining said another winding core apart from said cut drum, and means for releasing said hook means so that said another winding core may become engage with said cut drum.

United States Patent [191 Yamaguchi et al.

[451 Oct. 7, 1975 APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY EXCHANGING WINDING CORES IN WINDERS [7 3] Assignee: Nlshimura Seisakusho (30., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan [22] Filed: June 18, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 480,494

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary ExaminerEdward J. McCarthy Attorney, Agent, or FirmMorgan, Finnegan, Pine, Foley & Lee

[57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in winders or rewinders comprises a plurality of winding core support means, a turn table on which said plurality of winding core support means are arranged with regular angle intervals, said turn table being intermittently movable for each of said regular angle intervals so that the winding cores supported by the respective support means may be successively placed at a winding position, a surface drive roller engageable with a winding core supported by winding core support means placed at said winding position in order to drive said winding core for rotation, means for urging each of said winding cores to said surface drive roller when it is placed at said winding position, a rotatable out drum engageable with another winding core supported by another winding core support means which is placed at the rotary position immediately before said winding position, said out drum having a cutting knife which is movable between the first position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is extended outside from the periphery of said cut drum and the second position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is retracted inside from the periphery of said cut drum, means for actuating said cutting knife between said two positions so that said cutting knife may take said first position at a predetermined rotary position of said out drum immediately after rotary position at which said out drum is engageable with said another winding cores, hook means for retaining said another winding core apart from said cut drum, and means for releasing said hook means so that said another winding core may become engage with said cut drum.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 1 of3 3,910,518

US. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,910,518

U.S. Patent 0a. 751975 Sheet 3 of 3 3,910,518

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY EXCHANGING WINDING CORES'IN VVINDERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improved automatic winding or rewinding machine and more particularly to apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in a winding or rewinding machine.

The principal object of the invention is to provide apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in a winder or rewinder in which when a continuous sheet material such as an adhesive tape is wound for a predetermined length on a winding core at a winding position, the continuous sheet material is automatically cut, the initial end of the cut sheet material is automatically wrapped around the next fresh core, and the fresh core having the initial end of the sheet materials thus wrapped therearound is transferred to the winding position to continue the winding operation thereat, thereby saving labour and greatly increasing efficiency.

The other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in winders or rewinders comprises a plurality of winding cores support means, a turn table on which said plurality of winding core support means are arranged with regular angle intervals, said turn table being intermittently movable for each of said regular angle intervals so that the winding cores supported by the respective support means may be successively placed at a winding position, a surface drive roller engageable with a winding core supported by winding core support means placed at said winding position in order to drive said winding core for rotation, means for urging each of said winding cores to said surface drive roller when it is placed at said winding position, a rotatable cut drum engageable with another winding core supported by another winding core support means which is placed at the rotary position immediately before said winding position, said cut drum having a cutting knife which is movable between the first position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is extended outside from the periphery of said cut drum and the second position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is retracted inside from the periphery of said cut drum, means for actuating said cutting knife between said two positions so that said cutting knife may take said first position at a predetermined rotary position of With the above arrangement of various means, during the normal winding operation a continuous sheet material or a continuous tape is wound on a winding core which is contact with the surface driveroller via the outer periphery of the cut drum, but at the time of I winding core exchange, hook means is disengaged to press the next fresh core supported by support means at the next waiting position to the outer periphery of the cut drum and at an approximately the same time the cutter is projected from the outer periphery of the out drum to cut the sheet material or tape at a position between the cut drum and the surface drive roller, the terminal end of the cut sheet material or tape being completely wound on the winding core which is in contact with the surface drive roller while the initial end thereof being wrapped around the new winding core which is in contact with the out drum, whereupon the turn table is rotated for one regular an interval to transfer the new winding core from the position at which it is in contact with the out drum to the normal winding position at which it engages with the surface drive roller, without interrupting the winding operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of this invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings wherein the same reference numerals have been used to denote identical parts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the roll slitting and rewinding machine embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration, partly cut off, on an enlarged scale of the apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the cutting knife and its drive means contained in the cut drum illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view, partly cut off, of the cutting knife actuating means taken along the lines of 4-4 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a side view of the cam means illustrated in FIG. 3 taken along the lines 5-5 in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, particularly to FIG. 1 in which a roll slitting and rewinding machine is schematically illustrated, a continuous film sheet F 1 is supplied from a suitable film supply source such as a film supply roll (not shown). The continuous film sheet F, is, by way of example, an adhesive film sheet which comprises a base film sheet and a pressure sensitive adhesive material layer formed on a surface thereof, e.g., on the top surface of the film sheet F illustrated, through the invention may be applied to any other kinds of continuous sheet materials. The film sheet F is fed to a slitting position A at which the film sheet F is slitted by a slitting mechanism generally indicated by the reference numeral 12 into a plurality of strips F which are then fed through a guide roller 13 to a cutting position B at which the strips are cut in the direction of the width in such a manner as hereinafter described in detail. Each of the cut strips F 3 is finally rewound by a rewinding core 14 at the rewinding position C. Thereference numeral 15 indicates the rewound roll formed on the rewinding core 14. Each of the rewinding cores 14 having a rewound roll 15 formed thereon is rotatably supported by support means 17 and driven by a surface drive roller 16.

As shown more in detail in FIG. 2, a plurality of rewinding core support means, for example, four support means l7are arranged on a turn table or turret 18 with regular angle intervals, for example, with intervals. Each of four support means 17 may comprise a plurality of pair of support level arms 17a rotatably supported on a single shaft 17b carried by the turn table 18. Each pair of support arms 17 detachably support a rewinding core 14 is a conventional manner. The turn table 18 is movable intermittently for each angle inter-- cores 14 or each of the rewinding rolls 15 formed thereon is always kept in contact with the surface drive roller 16. The force for urging the rewinding core 14 to the surface drive roller 16 may preferably given by an air cylinder 60 which is provided for each of support means 17. The piston rod 61 operable by the air cylin der 60 is formed at its end portion with a rack 62 which engages with a pinion 63 mounted on the arm shaft 17h. If the air cylinder 60 is operated, the pinion 63 mountedon the arm shaft 17b with the support arms is turned in a clockwise direction against the force of a spring 64 which is stretched between the arm levels 17a and the turn table 18, so that the winding core 14 may become contact with the surface drive roller 16. However, if the air cylinder 60 is not operated, the arm lev els 170 are kept in a rest position by the force of the spring 64. The surface drive roller 16 is continuously driven at a constant speed. According to the invention, the continuous sheet material is fed continuously in the direction of its length at a constant speed from. the sheet material supporting position to the rewinding position C through the slitting position A and the sheet material cutting position B.

At the cutting position B, the slitted strips F is fed in contact with a out drum 20 for its fixed rotary angle range. The cut drum 20 is driven by a drive power source for rotation at a constant speed. Accordingly, the cut drum 20 serves as a feed roller for the slitted strips F The construction of the cut drum 20 is illustrated more in detail in FIGS. 3 to 5. The cut drum 20 is fixed on a driven shaft 21 which is connected to and driven by a power drive source through a driven pulley 22 fixed on the driven shaft 21. The cut drum 20 has a cutting blade or knife 23 which is laterally extended in a direction parallel to the generating line or the axis of the cut drum 20 throughout about its whole length. The blade 23 is held by a blade holder-24 which is elongated in the direction of an extension of the blade. The blade holder 24 is slidably supported and movable in its elongated direction, which is parallel to a radius of the drum 20, between the two positions: the first position at which the top edge of the blade 23 is projected outside of the periphery of the drum 20 and the second position at which the top edge of the blade 23 is retracted.

inside of the periphery of the drum 20. The reference numeral 25 indicates guide means for a straight sliding of the blade holder 24.

The blade holder 24 is connected via a lever 27- pivotally supported by "a pin 28 to a cam follower'26 which is in turn always engaged with an annular groove 29 formed in a stationary block 30.'The reference numeral 27a indicates a pin connecting the lever 27 with the blade support 24. The stationary block 30 is mounted on a frame 31 which rotatably carries the driven shaft 21. The stationary block 30 is provided at a fixed position of the annular groove 29 with cam means. Cam

means comprises acam element 32 having an elevated cam periphery 33 and a cam :element pocket34 formed in the outer periphery 29b of the groove 29 at its fixed position. The cam element 32 is movable between an operative position and a non-operative position. At the operative position the cam element 32 engages with the inner periphery 29a of the groove 29, the opposite ends of the cam periphery 33 of the cam element merging in the inner periphery 29a of the groove 29 so as to define the inner periphery of a completed cam' groove while the cam element pocket 30 is opened, the opposite ends of the inner wall 34a merging in the outer periphery 29b of the groove 29-so as to define the outer periphery of the same completed cam groove. This state is illustrated in solid lines in FIG. 5. At the nonoperative position the cam element 32 is entirely retracted within the cam element pocket 34 so that no substantialmovement may be given to the cam follower 26 in the groove 29 during the rotation of the drum 20.

This non-operative state is illustrated in dot-dash lines.

in FIG. 5.:

The cam element is actuated by an air cylinder 40 via. a connecting rod 41 extending in a radial direction.

If the cam means is in the operative condition, the knife blade 33 is projected from the periphery of the drum 20 for each rotation of the drum when the cam 1 follower 26 travels the cam periphery 33 of the cam element. Since the cam means is provided at a fixed position of the stationary block 30, the knife blade 23 is projected at a predetermined rotationalposition of the drum 20. This predetermined position is selected within the rotational angle range during which the slitted strips F are fed in contact withthe periphery of the cut drum 20. In the otherawords, the slitted strips are cut by the knifeblade 23 during the time when they are in contact with the periphery of the cut drum 20.

in FIG. 3 the reference numerals 51, 52 and 53 indicatethe loci of the cam follower, 26,, the connecting pin 27a and the top edge of the knife blade 23, respec tively.

The cut drum is engageable with another rewinding core 14 supported by another winding core support means 17 which is placed at the rotational position immediately before the rewinding position. However, as

I release the rewinding core '14 so that the rewinding core 14 may become contact with the peripheral surface of the cut drum 20, as shown in dotted lines in feed pawl 81 feeding rewinding cores one by one toward the support arms placed at thecore supply position.

The reference numeral 82 designates a belt conveyer disposed lower left-hand side in FIG. 2 of the turn table 18 serving to transfer the products of tapes rewound by predetermined length on cores 14.

With the apparatus arranged in the manner described above, in rewinding separate adhesive tapes, several such apparatuses are provided as described above and tapes F are divided into two or more groups which are then guided to the. respective apparatuses. The surface drive roller16 and cut drum 20 are rotated counterclockwise at substantially the same peripheral speed, thereby driving the cores 14 at'said windingposition C clockwise in accordance with the rotation of the surface drive roller 16, and guiding the separate adhesive tapes F to the respective cores 14 at the rewinding position C via the outer periphery of the out drum 20 so that they are rewound. on the respective cores 14. When the adhesive tapes F are rewound by a fixed length on the respective cores14, the cutting knife 23 rotating together with the cut drum 20 responds to a signal from a suitable detectingmeehanism and radially projects through the outer periphery of the out drum 20 and with a locus shown in dotted lines 53 in FIG. 2. The adhesive tapes F are cut on the outer periphery of the cut drum 20. In this connection it is to be noted that hook means 70 is disengaged from the core 14 at a next waiting position by means of the air cylinder 73 when or immediately before said cutting knife 23 begins to project. Therefore, the support arms 17a are rotated clockwise around the axis of the arm shaft 17b by the air pressure in the air cylinder 60, so that the cores 14 supported by the support arms 17a are pressed against the outer periphery of the cut drum 20 at about the same time as the cutting knife begins to project. As a result, the adhesive tapes F are positively cut as they are stretched between the roll 15 and the cut drum 20. Further, the edge of the cutting knife projecting through the outer periphery of the cut drum20 dewhich are in contact with the cut drum 11. Further,

since these cores 14 are surface driven in a clockwise direction in accordance with the rotation of the cut drum 20, the initial ends of the adhesive tapes F are wrapped around the cores 14.

As soon as the initial ends of the cut adhesive tapes F are wrapped around the respective cores 14 on said cut drum 20 and the terminal ends are completely wound on the roll 15 at the rewinding position .C, a signal is issued to the turn table 18. When such signal is issued, the turn table 18 is slowly rotated clockwise, with support means 17 rotating clockwise around the axis of the rotary shaft 19 in accordance with the rotation of the turn table 18. When the rotary shaft completes revolution so that the arms 17 gripping the rolls 15 which have completed rewinding at said winding position C are moved to the position D, the rotation of the turn table is momentarily stopped by a Geneva mechanism, as described above. At this time, the core grippers of the arms at this position D are opened as by air pressure. so that the cores which have completed rewinding are released to fall down onto the transfer conveyor 82 whereby they are transferred to the outside. After the turn table 8 is momentarily stopped by the Geneva mechanism, it is rotated further through 45, thus making a total of 90 revolution, and the arms of the arms 1721, intheir opened condition, are aligned with the positions of new cores 14 at the locking part of'the co re supplying' device 7 Further, as a result of the total "of 90 revolution of the turn table 20, the cores 14 having the respective adhesive tapes F wound thereon on the outer periphery of said cut drum 20 aremoved to a position between the outer surface of the cut drum 20 and the outer surface of the surface drive roller 16 while rewinding the adhesive tapes F by surface drive in accordance with the rotation of the out drum 20, and then to said predetermined rewinding position C while being surface driven in accordance with the rotation of the surface drive roller 16, thereby continuing the rewinding of the.

adhesive tapes F Therefore, the adhesive tapes F are continuously rewound on the respective cores 14 without interruption. Support means 17 having new rewinding cores 14 supplied is moved from the core supply position Eto a further waiting position G during the next 90 rotation of the turn table 18. During a further 90 rotation support means 17 having new rewinding cores 14 is moved from the further waiting position to the beforementioned next waiting position where the rewinding cores are engageable with the out drum 20. Thus, the steps described above are repeated so that the winding of adhesive tapes T and exchange of cores are automatically and continuously effected many times.

If cores 14 are pressed against the outer surface of the surface drive roller 16 by the air pressure in an air cylinder as in this embodiment, the pressure between the cores 14 and the surface drive roller 16 can be adjusted at will by increasing or descreasing the air pressure in the air cylinder 60, so that any desired firmness with which adhesive tapes F 3 are rewound can be achieved.

As is apparent from the foregoing embodiment, according to the present invention, in successively rewinding a continuous sheet material such as an adhesive tape on cores, exchange of rewinding from a core to a next fresh core can be automatically effected. Further, during the exchange of winding, the sheet material can be automatically wound without interruption, thereby saving labor and greatly increasing efficiency.

As in the foregoing embodiment, it is also possible to automatically carry out all the operation beginning with the supply of fresh cores and ending with the removal of winding-completed cores, in which case no labor whatever is required. Further, since the cores are surface driven on the surface drive roller to wind a sheet material, each core can be driven independently of the others even in the case of the foregoing embodiment where a sheet like material is wound ona number of cores at a time. Therefore, there is no possibility of unevenness in winding firmness or winding disturbance being produced due to irregularities in the thickness of the material and in the outer diameter of the cores. The products of good quality can be produced. Further, since each core can be rotated independently of the others, there is no possibility of an axial deviation taking place between the positions of cores and material due to a cumulative error resulting from irregularities in the width of cores as in a system whereincores are fitted on a single shaft.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be used to Wind not only a plurality of tapes as in the foregoing embodiment, but also a single tape or a wide long-sized material by successive fixed length.

What we claim is. 1. Apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in winders comprising: a

a plurality of winding core support means; a turn table on which said plurality of winding core support means are arranged with regular angle intervals, said turn table being intermittently movs means for urging each of said winding cores to said surface drive roller when it is placed at said wind-, ing position; a rotatable cut drum engageable with another wind- 8 ing core supported by another winding core support means which is placed at the rotary position, immediately before said winding position, said cut drum having a cutting knife which is movable be tween the first position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is extended outside from the periphery of said out drum and the second position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is retracted inside from the periphery of said cut drum, means for actuating said cutting knife between said two positions so that said cutting knife may take said first position at a predetermined rotary posi-, tion of said cut drum immediately after rotary position at which said cut drum is engageable with said another winding core;

hook means for retaining said another winding core apart from said cut drum; and means for releasing said hook means so that said another winding core may become engage with said cut drum. 

1. Apparatus for automatically exchanging winding cores in winders comprising: a plurality of winding core support means; a turn table on which said plurality of winding core support means are arranged with regular angle intervals, said turn table being intermittently movable for each of said regular angle intervals so that the winding cores supported by the respective support means may be successively placed at a winding position; a surface drive roller engageable with a winding core supported by winding core support means placed at said winding poSition in order to drive said winding core for rotation; means for urging each of said winding cores to said surface drive roller when it is placed at said winding position; a rotatable cut drum engageable with another winding core supported by another winding core support means which is placed at the rotary position immediately before said winding position, said cut drum having a cutting knife which is movable between the first position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is extended outside from the periphery of said cut drum and the second position at which the knife edge of said cutting knife is retracted inside from the periphery of said cut drum, means for actuating said cutting knife between said two positions so that said cutting knife may take said first position at a predetermined rotary position of said cut drum immediately after rotary position at which said cut drum is engageable with said another winding core; hook means for retaining said another winding core apart from said cut drum; and means for releasing said hook means so that said another winding core may become engage with said cut drum. 